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Cate Shortland is the choice to direct Black Widow. Marvel Studios has had Scarlett Johansson waiting in the wings for a solo movie for nearly a decade, and they're finally moving forward with such a film. The movie hired writer Jac Shaeffer earlier this year to develop a script for the Johansson-leading vehicle. In the months since, Marvel's been thoroughly searching for a director with the intention of hiring their first solo female director.

THR broke the news that Shortland has signed on to direct Black Widow for Marvel Studios. She becomes the first female to solely direct an MCU film, after Anna Boden co-directing Captain Marvel with Ryan Fleck. Shortland most recently directed the indie thriller/drama Berlin Syndrome starring Teresa Palmer, but made her directorial debut with Somersault and then followed it up with Lore in 2012. Black Widow will be her first venture into blockbuster style filmmaking.

Now that Shortland is signed on to direct Black Widow, the project's future looks better than ever. Marvel Studios is being purposefully cagey about the plans after Avengers 4, but Black Widow is certainly in those plans. Shortland's hiring at this stage and previous reports of crew members being hired strongly points to a 2020 release for Johansson's solo movie. Again, all of this still needs to be confirmed by Marvel, but they do have a July 2020 release date currently free that this female-led spy film could one day occupy.

When it comes to further details on Black Widow, though, that's where the project becomes a bit more mysterious. There have been reports before that the movie will be a prequel. Reports also linked Sebastian Stan to Black Widow where he can reprise his role as the Winter Soldier prior to his hero days. Black Widow's Avengers 4 fate still remains in question thanks to the possible prequel setting. Fans could see her die for real next May, only to see her origin story the year after potentially.

If Black Widow continues to move ahead smoothly, then it hopefully won't be that much longer before more details surface. Unfortunately, Marvel may not confirm anything about the movie until right before filming could possibly begin due to the release of Avengers 4 and trying to prevent spoilers.